Bad Boys
by Lady Arreya
Summary: Bad boys are hard to resist when you're a teenage girl. AU, BxG of a sorts.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Bad Boys  
Rating: T  
Summary: Bad boys are hard to resist when you're a teenage girl. AU, BxG.

Inspired by:  
The trailer for the episode "Good Copy, Bad Copy"  
The song, "If You Want It To Be Good, Girl (Get Yourself a Bad Boy)," by Backstreet Boys  
The song, "Real Good Man," by Tim McGraw

A/N: This idea popped into my head while I was watching the trailer for "Good Copy, Bad Copy." I wrote most of it before I watched the actual episode. The episode itself didn't turn out the way I expected it to, so the story seems really weird to me now because it has very little to do with the episode… but that's okay. That's what AU is for!

* * *

She couldn't resist the bad boys.

Bad boys had a certain appeal. They were rebels. They didn't follow the rules, and they never let anyone tell them what to do. They did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

She secretly wished she could be like that. She felt burdened by responsibility sometimes. She was always worrying about living up to other people's expectations of her. Not to mention her own.

_What would it be like to be free of all that?_ Gwen wondered.

She longed to let loose and run wild. She was so tempted sometimes to just say, "F-- it. I'm doing whatever I want – consequences be damned!"

She wouldn't have to care about anyone's wants or feelings except her own.

But she couldn't really do that. It was too selfish, and she was afraid of what might happen. The cost was too high. She couldn't alienate the people she loved, and her conscience would torment her if she did anything that she found morally reprehensible.

So she sought out bad boys instead. It was her own form of rebellion. Pursuing them gave her an adrenaline rush because she never knew what to expect or how they were going to react. It was a challenge.

And she loved a challenge.

Bad boys fascinated her these days. They were so unlike the nice guys she knew from school.

Nice guys were boring. They did what they were supposed to. They had good manners and treated you with respect. A nice guy who genuinely cared about you would try his best to make you happy. He would listen to you and usually do what you said or asked.

But what was the fun in that? There was no mystique there. She couldn't help feeling dissatisfied because it was all so predictable.

They weren't anything like the dashing heroes of romance novels or movies.

Gwen wanted that. She wanted to be swept away with romance.

That was why she liked Kevin. And Mike, too. On some level she had picked up that he was no good, even before he'd become Darkstar.

Bad boys always knew exactly the right things to say to make you melt. They were charming when they wanted to be and could easily smooth-talk their way into your heart.

She knew that it was only because they were skilled manipulators and liars, but she couldn't help falling for it anyway.

Nice guys weren't like that. They were honest and generally told you the truth. But the problem was that the truth was not usually what a teenage girl wanted to hear. It was too ordinary, and certainly not romantic.

She wanted a bad boy.

First Kevin, then Mike, and now…

Bad Ben?

(To be continued in Chapter 2...)


	2. Chapter 2

Gwen huddled in the corner, still in shock.

Ben came running over to her. "Gwen? What happened? Are you okay?"

She flinched as he reached for her.

He stopped, realization dawning on him. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing."

"Gwen…"

"He kissed me, all right?!" Her next words were almost inaudible. "And I kissed him back."

"What?! How could you?!"

"I thought he was you!"

He gaped at her. "Are you saying you wanted me to kiss you?"

"No!"

His gaze grew shuttered, and she could practically hear his thoughts. _You just wanted __**him **__to kiss you._

She turned away, unable to bear the look of betrayal in his eyes.

"I don't know what happened," she said at last.

It had all happened so quickly.

He'd lured her into a trap, and she'd fallen right into it.

She'd wanted to him kiss her… but which one?

She hated to admit it, but she was secretly attracted to her own cousin. But Ben – Good Ben – was too honorable to ever try anything like that.

Good Ben didn't see her that way. That was why he never made a pass at her.

Bad Ben didn't care. He was selfish. He went after whatever he wanted. And he had decided that he wanted her. Or something.

Maybe he had just been toying with her. For no other reason than that he could.

It was surreal. On the surface, Bad Ben was identical to Good Ben. He could even turn on the charm and act so much like Good Ben that he had fooled even her. She couldn't tell them apart.

She couldn't help it.

Bad Ben was also exciting. He was even more ruthless and powerful than Kevin or Mike. Neither she nor Kevin had been any match for him.

Maybe he was how Ben would have turned out if she hadn't exerted all of her good influence on him the past 5 years.

She often felt that Ben was overly solicitous with her these days.

Sometimes she missed the old days when they had fought a lot. Well, maybe not the fighting so much, but it had been fun engaging in banter and a constant battle of the wits. Especially since she knew she'd usually have the last word. She had enjoyed provoking him.

Now, everything was completely different. They were closer and they rarely fought. He almost always listened to her. Which was good, but also... boring. Predictable. Good Ben was a little _too_ good these days.

Bad Ben was nothing like that. He was roguish and charming. Reckless, wild. Full of mischief.

No… It went far beyond that. He was cruel, calculating, manipulative…

She felt guilty about kissing Bad Ben, but… how was she supposed to know? He'd tricked her, damn it.

No, it was her own fault. She should have known he was the impostor. Good Ben never would have said such beautiful things to her. He never would have tried to kiss her. He was too honorable to seduce anyone. He would never take advantage of her.

But she'd managed to convince herself that maybe, just maybe…

She felt hopelessly confused. She didn't know what she wanted anymore.

Maybe she never had.

The End

* * *

A/N: After watching the actual episode, my train of thought for this story got completely derailed. Though I finished writing it, it wasn't very satisfactory. So I ended up writing a much darker, more explicit (and out-of-character) version where Albedo does a lot more than just kiss Gwen. I thought it was a little much for posting on FFN, but I will consider it if enough people want to read it. Please let me know if you want to beta-read it. Thanks.


End file.
